"Austria 0-1 Croatia"

Croatia laboured to a 1-0 victory over co-hosts Austria in the opening Group B game.

The Croats, who had been fancied as dark horses for the tournament, pedestrian waiting for the most part, while Austria could consider themselves unfortunate enough to suffer the same fate as his co-hosts Switzerland to lose a game in which largely dominated.

Austria suffered the worst possible start to his tournament when it awarded a penalty within three minutes of the kick. Ivica Olic broke into the box to collect a pass from Luka Modric, only to be grouped by Rene Aufhauser. The referee had no hestitation in pointing to the place, and the resulting penalty coolly converted Modric.

The goal settled and Croatia they controlled possession without really looking like extending their leadership. Mladen Petric had its best chance when found unmarked at the far post, but his thunderous shot flashed wide high.

Confidence seems to breed complacency within the ranks Croats, and Austria, which has struggled to get a foot in the early stages, began to enjoy some possession as the interval approached. Their best chance fell to Standfest who headed wide from close range, while Simunic had to be alert to scramble clear a dangerous cross from Martin Harnik.

After the break Austria continued to have the game to their opponents and although clear chances were few and far between, their efforts raised the decibel level at the Ernst Happel stadium as the home crowd sensed a tie was imminent.

With veteran Ivica Vastic, at 38 the oldest outfield player in the tournament, which appears as a second half substitute Austria began to enjoy long periods of possession and Harnik a threat to the right, Croatia were forced to backfoot for a significant portion of the second half.

The co-hosts almost made the breakthrough when a shot from Korkmaz was rejected by the goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa in injury time, Kienast glanced a header wide in the strict sense.


Group B
Austria 0 Croatia 1

Top Scorers: Luka Modric 4 pen

Half-time: 0-1

Teams:
Austria: Juergen Macho 21-, 2-Joachim Standfest, 15-Sebastian Proedl, 4-Emanuel Pogatetz, 3-Martin Stranzl, 12-Ronald Gercaliu (11-Umit Korkmaz 69), 10-Andreas Ivanschitz, 6-Rene Aufhauser, 19 -- Juergen Saeumel (7-Ivica Vastic 61), 20-Martin Harnik, 9-Roland Linz (18-Roman Kienast 73)

Croatia: 1-Stipe Pletikosa; 5-Vedran Corluka, 4-Robert Kovac, 3-Josip Simunic, 22-Danijel Pranjic, 11-Darijo Srna, 10-Niko Kovac, 14-Luka Modric, 19-Niko Kranjcar (15-Dario Knezevic 61), 21-Mladen Petric (20-Igor Budan 72), 18-Ivica Olic (8-Ognjen Vukojevic 82).